What are the right reasons? What are the wrong reasons? Is it possible even to make such a distinction? And who is to say?

These were the sorts of questions an education professor, now retired, once asked his graduate students at a large state university in the Midwest. He wrote to me after last week's column on abortion rights. He asked not to be identified to protect his students, but he wanted to share the discussions that unfolded after he asked this question:

"What reason or reasons would you give for why a person should have a child?"